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LAFAYETTE 


, MAJOR GENERAL U. S. A. 


Born September 6th, 

LAFAYETTE 


1757 

DAY 


1916 

Published under the Ausp 


ices 




of the 




LAFAYETTE DAY NATIONAL COMMITTEE | 


Charles W. Eliot 


Theoi) 


IRE Roosevelt 1 


MOORPIELU SlOKEY 


William D. Guthrie | 


Caspar F. Uoodkich 


Henrv 


Watterson 1 


Jl'Dson Harmon 


Charles J. Bonaparte 1 


Myron T. Herrick 


Charles P. Johnson I 


Joseph H. Choate 


W. R. 


Hodges 


GEORGE Haven Putnam Chas. 


Stewart Davison, Hon. Sec'r. 


George W. Wickersham Uavru 


E Leon, Recording Sec'y. 




and the 




LAFAYETTE DAY 


CITIZENS' COAIMITTEE OF NEW YORK | 


Lawrence F. Abbott 


Job E. Hedges 


Charles Scribner 


b'l-fderick H. Allen 


lion. George C. Holt 


Isaac N. Seligman 


Peter T. Barlow 


Henry Holt 


P. Tecumseh Sherman 


Georg-e Gordon Battle 


Andrew Beaumont Humphrey 


Rev. Dr. Joseph Silverman 


James M. Beck 


Robert Underwood Johnson 


Frank H. Simonds 


August Belmont 


Francis C. Jones 


William Sloane 


S. Reading Bertron 


Lucien Jouvaud 


Francis Lynde Stetson 


Fiaiiklin Q. Brown 


Boudinot Keith 


John A. Stevens 


t.eorge W. Burleigh 


Col. William Whitehead Ladd Frederick Boyd Stevenson | 


James Byrne 


M. B. Leahy 


John A. Stewart 


Joseph H. Choate 


Maurice Leon 


Willard D. Straight 


William Conant Church 


E. Hubert Litchfield 


Oscar S. Straus 


\\illiam A. Coffin 


DeWitt M. Lockman 


Edward Trenchaid 


Joseph P. Cotlon 


Will H. Low 


Paul Tuckerman 


F. Cunliffe-Owen 


E. S. Martin 


Guy Van Amringe 


Chas. Stewart Davison 


Alexander T. Mason 


Nathan B. Van Etten 


Robert W. DeForest 


John G. Milburn 


John C. Van Dyke 


William Curtis Uemorest 


Charles R. Miller 


William Van Ingen 


F. S. Grand d'Uauteville 


Hon. John Purroy Mitchel 


Frank A. Vanderlip 


Cliarles DeRham 


J. Pierpont Morgan 


J. Alden Weir 


Cleveland H. Dodge 


Robert C. Morris 


T. Tileston Wells 


Hon. Frank L. Dowling 


Carlisle Norwood 


George W. Wickersham 


Charles A. Downer 


Robert Olyphant 


William G, Wilco.x 


Allen W. Evarts 


Talbot Olyphant 


George T. Wilson 


William Bailey Fa.xon 


E. H. Outerbridge 


Louis Wiley 


John Flanagan 


Alton B. Parker 


Beekman Winthrop 


.John H. Finley 


William Barclay Parsons 


Dr. Stephen S. Wise 


Frederick DePeyster Foster 


George Foster Peabody 


James A. Wright 


Amos Tuck French 


Hon. Francis K. Pendleton 


Rev. T. Wucher 


branklin H. Giddings 


George A. Plimpton 


Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge 


Lawrence Godkin 


George Haven Putnam 


Mrs. Hamilton R. Fairfax 


Richard Gottheil 


John Quinn 


Jlrs. J. Borden Harriman 


Hon. Samuel Greenbaum 


Theodore Roosevelt 


Mrs. Frederick Nathan 


William D. Guthrie 


Talbot Root 


Mrs. Livingston Row Sdiuyler 


-Montgomery Hallowell 


Robert Underwood Johnson 


Mrs. V. G. Simkhovitch 


Henry Winthop Hardon 


William Jay Schieflfelin 


Mrs. George Wilson Smith 


McDougall Hawkes 


Mortimer L. Schiff 


Miss Lillian D. Wald 



, L Z Li Z 



By the courtesy of the American Scenic and His- 
toric Preservation Society the contents of this booklet 
insofar as they relate to the ceremonies which took 
place at the City Hall in New York will be included in 
its next annual report which, upon transmission to the 
Legislature of the State of New York, is regularly 
printed as a state document. 



/ 



^CI,A44G112 



Copyrirjht 19 IG 

by Lafayette Day National Committee 

60 Wall Street, New York 



nCT 13 1916 



SEPTEMBER 6, 1757-1914. 



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From the Nezv York Tribune oi Sept. 6, 1916. next to an editorial 
entitled : Lafayette and Marne Day. 



The Outlook in its issue of September 20th, 1916 
published the photograph shown opposite this page 
with the following descriptive text: 

"Honoring the Services to America of the 
Marquis de Lafayette. 

' ' To honor the French nobleman who fought for 
America's freedom in the Revolution, and inci- 
dentally to testify to their appreciation of 
France's attitude in the present war, a multitude 
of Americans joined in celebrating the 159th an- 
niversary of Lafayette's birth, September 6th. 
The principal celebration was held in the City Hall, 
New^ York, where Lafayette was officially wel- 
comed in 1824. In the center of the picture are 
M. Jusserand, French Ambassador to the United 
States (at the right of the standard) and Mme. 
Jusserand, who is looking toward Mr. Sharp, 
American Ambassador to France. Judge Alton 
B. Parker stands next to Ambassador Sharp. At 
the right of Ambassador Jusserand is Dr. John 
Finley, Commissioner of Education of the State 
of New York. At the extreme left, in profile is 
Mr. Robert Bacon, former Ambassador to 
France." 

[The same number of the Outlook contains a de- 
tailed account of the ceremonies at City Hall, an edi- 
torial devoted to Lafayette Day, entitled ' ' The French 
Spirit", as also Dr. Finley 's poem and Mr. Bacon's 
address as published in this booklet.] 



The photograph opposite this page was taken in 
front of City Hall after the Lafayette Day Ceremonies, 
and shows the three principal guests of honor, namely : 
Mme. Jusserand at the center of the picture, the French 
Ambassador at her left and at the extreme left Mr. 
Gaston Liebert, Consul General of France in New 
York, who is looking toward his two daughters, Miles. 
Liebert. To the right of Mme. Jusserand are Mr. 
George W. Burleigh, Prof. Charles A. Downer and Mr. 
Maurice Leon and, at the extreme right, Hon. Alton B. 
Parker. 



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The Lafayette btatue unveiled at l^all iviver x\iass., ^epieniber 4, il;)16. 



li to THE /vj^ 



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HIS IS9XH BIRTHDAY 



Copr. by Life Pub. Co. 



From LIFE, (3ctober 5, 1916 




Bust of Lafayette unveiled in Lafayette Park, 

New Orleans, on Lafayette Day, 

Sept. 6, 1916. 




The Lafayette Statue in Union Square, 

New York, decorated on the occasion 

of Lafayette Day, Sept. 6, 1916. 



LAFAYETTE DAY, 1916. 

On July 14tli 1916 the following was published in 
the daily press throughout the country : 

"That the nation may remember this year, as it 
did last year, the anniversary of Lafayette's birth, 
September 6th, 1757, the undersigned again commend 
the opportunity thus afforded to honor the memory 
and commemorate the deeds of one of the noblest 
heroes of the American Kevolution, thanks to whose 
efforts France's sympathy for the cause of freedom 
was given effective expression at a crucial period of the 
struggle for American Independence. Last year the 
press at large contributed to the ever-renewed patriotic 
interest of our people in the personality and achieve- 
ments of Lafayette by means of leading articles pub- 
lished on or near the day of the anniversary and it is 
hoped it will do so again this year; and patriotic 
societies are urged to hold suitable exercises upon that 
day, particularly in our principal cities, many of which 
possess statues of Lafayette. 

"Issuing this call on July 14th, when France com- 
memorates her struggles for liberty, we are not un- 
mindful that by honoring Lafayette upon his anni- 
versary, a date made doubly memorable by the Battle 
of the Marne, we will be giving expression to the senti- 
ment of fraternal regard for our sister republic which 
exists among all elements of our people. 

Charles W. Eliot (Mass.) 
Moorfield Storey " 

Joseph H. Choate (N. Y.) 
Theodore Roosevelt " 

George W. Wickersham " 
George Haven Putnam " 
William D. Guthrie " 

Henry Watterson (Ky.) 

Charles J. Bonaparte (Md.) 



Caspar F. Goodrich (Conn.) 

W. R. Hodges (Mo.) 

Charles P. Johnson '' 

Judson Harmon (Ohio) 

Myron T. Herrick '' 

Charles Stewart Davison (N. Y.) " 

The previous call, to which reference is made, was 
published in August 1915, signed by the same commit- 
tee; its terms were similar to those of the first part 
of this year's call and being addressed to the press at 
large it had resulted in a gratifying response in the 
form of leading articles devoted to the achievements 
of Lafayette published throughout the country on his 
anniversary, while thousands of Lafayette tricolor 
buttons were sold that day at the San Francisco Expo- 
sition for the benefit of the Lafayette Fund which this 
year placed them on sale throughout New York and in 
other cities. 

The result produced by the publication of these two 
calls may be judged by the following: 

Reports which have reached the Lafayette Day 
National Committee (composed of the signers of the 
two calls already referred to) show that exercises 
marked by patriotic fervor were held in a number of 
our large cities, besides those held in New York which 
are fully reported in this book. 

Boston. 

The commemoration was begun on Sunday, Sep- 
tember 3rd, by a memorial service which was held in 
St. Paul's Cathedral, Boston. The cathedral on that 
occasion was decorated with the colors of the United 
States and France. The church was crowded, the at- 
tendance including many members of patriotic organi- 
zations and the French Consular representative in 
Boston, Mr. Flamand; so crowded in fact that many 
desirous of attending were unable to find space in the 
church. The memorial sermon was delivered by the 



Rev. Edward T. Sullivan, who selected as his theme 
* ' Our Debt to Lafayette ' '. The following passages are 
taken from the conclusion of his address: 

''Few will say w^e could have won without the 
aid of France, and in the entrance of France into 
the war, Lafayette's was a paramount influence, 
for the youth had stirred his country quite as 
much as he had the colonies." 

"The greatness of his character impressed all 
who knew him, and he was admired for what he 
w^as, even more than for what he did. So long as 
people love liberty, his name will be honored, and 
his fame will be secure." 

Fall River. 

On the following day, which was Labor Day, the 
commemoration was continued at Lafayette Park, Fall 
River, Mass., where a bronze equestrian statue of 
Lafayette was unveiled in the presence of Mr. 
Jusserand, the French Ambassador, Hon. Samuel W. 
McCall, Governor of Massachusetts, Hon. Henry Cabot 
Lodge, senior United States Senator from Massachu- 
setts, Ex-Governor Aram J. Pothier, of Rhode Island, 
and Mayor James H. Kay of Fall River, all of whom 
made addresses, and Hon. Hugo A. Dubuque, who de- 
livered the presentation address. Prior to the unveil- 
ing of the monument four thousand members of vari- 
ous organizations among the residents of Fall River of 
French-Canadian descent marched through the streets 
of the city. The appearance of the French Ambassador 
w^as the signal for a remarkable demonstration of en- 
thusiasm. In a temporary grandstand bordering on the 
park about 10,000 persons had assembled. The fol- 
lowing passages are taken from the Ambassador's 
address as reported in the public press: 

To-day, when all Europe is in flames, French- 
men are giving their blood for the right of men 
to govern themselves. At this grave hour in the 



history of France the active sympathies, the 
precious words of approbation which come to us 
from this great republic are most comforting, and 
to Frenchmen it is a joy to meet at times in the 
immense furrow which goes from Belfort to the 
sea, those splendid soldiers from over the ocean, 
men who have covered themselves with glory in 
every encounter; men who speak the same lan- 
guage as ourselves: the Canadian French." 

"These French Canadians are men of good ex- 
ample ; they have shown us in France how to real- 
ize that very important factor in the development 
of liberal ideals in the world, namely the friend- 
ship of England and the alliance mth England. 
They have given tangible evidence of this alliance. 
French Canadians and English-Canadians, rivals 
in courage, descendants of two great peoples, have 
united in forming this powerful army of volun- 
teers which to-day is three times more numerous 
than the total of the troops Napoleon had at 
Waterloo. 

"France to-day is bleeding, her provinces are 
invaded, her sanctuaries outraged, her people have 
been driven from their homes and reduced to a 
form of slavery, France will rise again, the sun 
will reappear, Liberty, whose statue has been 
erected by us in New York harbor, will continue to 
enlighten the world. 

"In the name of one of the countries of Lafay- 
ette, I bring to you Canadians, men of his blood, 
and to you Americans, descendants of those with 
whom he fought, the thanks of France. Let us be 
of good courage, even as was Lafayette, and con- 
fident of the triumph of the ideal which was dear 
to him and which is to-day that of our republic: 
liberty, equality and all in good time, fraternity. ' ' 

In a brief speech the Governor congratulated Fall 
River upon its appreciation of "a great patriot, 



liberator and gentleman" and prolonged cheers 
greeted his reference to American men and women 
now heroically working in war-torn France in the am- 
bulances and hospitals, in aviation and in the Foreign 
Legion ranks. 

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge expressed a close per- 
sonal interest in the ceremonies as due to an inci- 
dent which occurred many years after Lafayette 
fought with Washington at Brandj^wine and York- 
town : when the Revolution in France was at its zenith, 
Lafayette sent his only son, George Washington 
Lafayette, to this country for safety. The young 
Lafayette was sent by Gen. Washington to Boston and 
entrusted to the care of Senator George Cabot, the 
great-grandfather of Senator Lodge. It was in the 
Cabot home that the lad studied English and was cared 
for until the events in Paris permitted his return to 
France. Senator Lodge concluded his address in 
French with an eloquent tribute to Lafayette, to the 
chivalry of his example which was inspired by the 
deeds of the crusaders who were his forbears; and, 
amid great applause, he spoke of the young Americans 
who had enlisted in the French ranks as wishing to do 
their share toward paying the debt for the help which 
Lafayette once gave their country without stint. 

Ex-Governor Pothier, who likewise spoke in 
French, felicitated the people of Fall River for their 
patriotism and declared himself honored by his asso- 
ciation with the ceremony. 

Eighteen divisions and 15 bands of music marched 
in the procession. Visiting delegations from Provi- 
dence, New Bedford, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woon- 
socket, Worcester, Boston, Brockton, Warren and 
other cities were in the parade, as also United States 
Army and Naw contingents. 

The ceremony was followed by a banquet in the 
State Armory attended by nearly 1,000 guests, which 
was addressed by United States Senator John W. 
Weeks, Lieutenant Governor Calvin Coolidge and Ex- 



Governor David I. Walsh; Colonel Vignal, the French 
Military Attache, spoke of life in the trenches. 

On Lafayette Day exercises were held simultane- 
ously in New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, 
Washington D. C, and elsewhere. 

New Orleans. 

The ceremonies at New Orleans were participated 
in officially by the municipal authorities. A reception 
was held at the City Hall, which was attended by state 
and city officials, members of the different committees 
of organizations conducting the Lafayette celebration, 
patriotic organizations of the City of New Orleans and 
the public in general. It was followed by the unveiling 
of a bust of Lafayette in Lafayette Square, the 
inaugural address being delivered by Judge Joseph A. 
Breaux. In the evening exercises were held at The 
Cabildo where Lafayette was entertained when he 
visited New Orleans in 1825, under the honorary chair- 
manship of Hon. Martin Behrman, Mayor of New 
Orleans and the chairmanship of Hon. A. G. Eicks, 
acting mayor of the City of New Orleans, who used a 
gavel made from the branch of a magnolia tree planted 
at Mount Vernon by Laf aj^ette in 1824. As the chimes 
of the New Orleans Cathedral were being sounded the 
invocation was given by Rev. A. Gordon Bakewell; 
addresses were made by Mr. E. Genoyer, acting Consul 
General of France, Col. H. J. de la Vergne and Judge 
Henry Renshaw. Mr. W. 0. Hart read "The Key of 
the Bastille"; Mr. J. J. A. Fortier read President 
Jacksons' Tribute to Lafayette. An original poem, 
written for the occasion by Mr. Rixford J. Lincoln, 
poet laureate of the Louisiana Historical Society, en- 
titled "A Soldier of the Revolution" was read by Mr. 
J. F. C. Waldro; "America," The "Marseillaise" and 
the "Chant du Depart" were sung and, after the 
benediction given by the Very Rev. F. Racine, the 
"Star Spangled Banner". 



TVashington. 

The exercises at Washington were arranged by the 
following patriotic organizations: Army and Navy 
Union, Order of Washington, Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, Daughters of 1812, Daughters of the 
Confederacy, Sons of the Revolution, Sons of the 
American Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars, Sons 
of Confederate A^eterans, National Lineal Society of 
the Spanish War, Founders and Patriots, Huguenots 
of South Carolina. They were attended by a dis- 
tinguished audience which included Thomas Campbell 
Washington, a descendant of John Augustine Wash- 
ington, C. C. Calhoun, president of the Southern 
Society and Vicomte Dejean, counsellor of the French 
Embassy, and addresses were made by Messrs Joseph 
A. Meeker, R. Wayne Parker, and Joseph G. Cannon, 
all representatives in Congress, General H. Odin Lake, 
commander of the Army and Navy Union, vice-chair- 
man and Dr. J. G. Bulloch of the Order of Washington, 
chairman of the committee, and Mr. Claude N. Bennett, 
while the invocation and benediction were pronounced 
by the Rev. Harry D. Mitchell. Alfred Barbour Dent 
acted as secretary of the committee. Floral wreaths 
were placed on the Lafayette monument in Lafayette 
Square by the Order of Washington and Daughters of 
the American Revolution. 

San Francisco. 

In San Francisco the exercises were held under the 
auspices of the Friends of France, whose officers are 
William B. Bourn, Esq., president; Bruce Porter, Esq., 
vice-president; William H. Crocker, Esq., treasurer, 
Selah Chamberlain, Esq. and Osgood Putnam, Esq., 
directors, and Porter Garnett, Esq., secretary. An 
admission fee was charged, the proceeds of which are 
to be devoted to a memorial of Lafayette to be placed 
in the San Francisco Public Library. 



Promdence. 

In Providence exercises were held by the Rhode 
Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution 
in the North Burial Ground where lie 200 French 
soldiers, some of them Lafayette's companions who 
perished in their camp in Providence at the close of 
the Revolutionary "War. Rev. Charles F. Roper de- 
livered the invocation and an address, and President 
Frederick D. Carr read Jackson's proclamation upon 
the death of Lafayette. The Star Spangled Banner, 
America and the Marseillaise were played. A floral 
w^reath and American and French flags decorated the 
plot where the French soldiers are Furied. Flags were 
displayed on all the city buildings and at the Dexter 
Training Ground in honor of Lafayette. 

Tacoma, Wash. 

In recognition of Lafayette Day the third of the 
Oregon trail markers was unveiled at Tenino on that 
date by Governor Ernest Lister, assisted by members 
of the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion, before an attendance of 500 persons. 

Philadelphia. 

The Philadelphia newspapers of September 7th 
reported that Lafayette Day had been celebrated by 
the flying of the American and French flags; that the 
"Album" flag had been hoisted on Independence Hall 
with the "Pelican" flag of Louisiana, which was pre- 
sented to the city on Flag Day by Mayor Behrman of 
New Orleans. Hope was expressed in various quarters 
that the patriotic organizations would make provision 
for a more adequate observance next year, in keeping 
with the traditions of the city. The Philadelphia news- 
papers devoted stirring editorials to Lafayette Day. 

New York. 

A full report of the exercises at City Hall in New 



York follows this introduction, Tliey were arranged 
under the auspices of a Citizens' Committee of 111 
members, whose names are given below, and attended 
by a large and distinguished audience. The guests of 
honor were : His Excellency, the French Ambassador 
and Mme. Jusserand and Mr. Gaston Liebert, Consul 
General of France in New York, as also the staffs of 
the Ambassador and Consul General, including Col. 
Vignal, Military Attache and Mme. Vignal, Commander 
Antonin Martin, Naval Attache, Mr. Maurice Heil- 
mann, Commercial Attache, the Misses Liebert, 
daughters of the Consul General of France, Mr. Nette- 
ment, the Consul of France, and his sister Mile. Nette- 
ment, Mr. Stanislas d'Halewyn, Vice Consul of France, 
and Mme. d'Halewyn. They were greeted in the 
Governor's room and, to the strains of the Marseillaise 
and Star Spangled Banner played by the Lafayette 
Guards' Band, escorted to the Aldermanic Chamber 
where Morse's portrait of Lafayette had been placed 
over the platform, amidst decorations in the colors of 
both countries, which also surrounded Washington's 
portrait while the gallery and also the rotunda were 
draped in those colors. 

In the assemblage were present the members of the 
Lafayette Day Citizens Committee, representatives of 
patriotic organizations and numerous guests, among 
whom the British Naval Attache and several visiting 
French officers and journalists. 

Following the exercises, a message was cabled to 
Mr. Poincare, president of the French Republic, as 
follows : 

''On the fourteenth of July fifteen private 
citizens of seven different states of the Union and 
constituting the Lafayette Day National Com- 
mittee issued a request to the American people to 
suitably observe the anniversary of Lafayette's 
birth September sixth. The form of the request 
was similar to the one issued last year by the same 



10 

group with the addition of the following: ''Issu- 
ing this call on July 14th when France commem- 
orates her struggles for liberty we are not un- 
mindful that by honoring Lafayette upon his an- 
niversary, a date made doubly memorable by the 
Battle of the Marne, we will be giving expression 
to the sentiment of fraternal regard for our sister 
republic which exists among all elements of our 
people." This request has met with general 
sjmipathetic recognition and Lafayette Day bids 
fair to become a recognized American anniversary. 
A large number of patriotic societies have evi- 
denced deep interest therein and in a number of 
cities, New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston and 
elsew^here commemorative ceremonies were held. 
In this city many buildings were decorated with 
the colors of both countries, as were the statutes 
of Washington and of Lafayette and the municipal 
authorities gave their official aid and recognition 
tendering for the purpose the City Hall in which 
Lafayette was, welcomed on his last visit to 
America. An official escort conducted the Ambas- 
sador of France and Madame Jusserand, the 
Consul General of France and their respective 
staffs to the City Hall where they were received 
by the Acting Mayor. The meeting was presided 
over by Alton B. Parker, former chief judge of the 
Court of Appeals and after a formal welcome by 
the City authorities, addresses were delivered by 
Mr. Bacon, sometime Ambassador to France, Mr. 
Sharp, the present ambassador to France and 
President Finley, the head of the State Depart- 
ment of Education, The Ambassador of France, 
who received throughout the day a continuous 
ovation such as has seldom if ever been accorded 
here to the envoy of any nation, closed the occa- 
sion by responding on behalf of the French 
Republic. We take gratification in conveying in- 
formation of these matters to you testifying as 



11 

they do to the sincere friendship of the American 
people for France. Detailed reports of all the 
various ceremonies which occurred will be 
forwarded later through the French Ambassa- 
dor." 
(Signed) : 

"Alton B. Parker, Chairman of the meeting; 

Joseph H. Choate, honorary president; 

Charles Stewart Davison, honorary secretary ; 

Henry Winthrop Hardon, treasurer; 

Frank A. Vanderlip ; 

Maurice Leon; 

William D. Guthrie; 

George W. Burleigh; 
. William A. Coffin. 

Heads of Committees for Lafayette Day." 

The following reply thereto was received by Hon. 
Alton B. Parker, chairman of the meeting from His 
Excellency, the French Ambassador: 

"My dear Mr. Chairman, 

My Government informs me that the Lafayette 
Committee were so good as to cable to the Presi- 
dent of the French Republic an account of the 
manifestations of sympathy towards France which 
have taken j^lace in New York and in other cities 
on the occasion of the birthday of the celebrated 
French patriot and friend of America. 

"In accordance with the instructions I have 
just received, I have the honor to tender to you 
and to all those who united their efforts to yours, 
the sincere thanks of President Poincare who 
desires also that his congratulations be conveyed 
to you for the admirable way in which you thus 
help to bring nearer together the French and the 
American peoples. 

"Allow me to add in my personal name the ex- 
pression of my gratitude and compliments for 



12 

the commemoration which it was my privilege to 
witness in the historical City Hall. The speeches 
by Ambassador Sharp, by ex-ambassador Bacon 
and by Dr. Finley ought, with yours, to be pre- 
served ; all that took place was worthy of the occa- 
sion ; no one was worthier than our Chairman who 
presided the meeting with so much eloquence and 
dignity. 

"I have the honor to be, with best regards, etc. 
(Signed) "Jusserand." 

The Lafayette room at the Washington Head- 
quarters, which is in the care of a group of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution ( Morris- Jumel Man- 
sion) was visited by many persons on Lafayette Day. 
Tricolor wreaths were placed on the Lafayette statue 
in Union Square and the Washington statue in front 
of the Sub-Treasury in Wall Street. 

In the evening a Lafayette Day banquet was held 
at the Waldorf-Astoria under the auspices of the 
France-America Society which was attended by some 
350 representative citizens, and at which addresses 
were delivered under the chairmanship of Mr. F. 
Cunliffe-Owen, the main addresses being those of the 
French Ambassador and Mr. James M. Beck. The 
Ambassador's address is included in this book with his 
kind permission and will be found following the 
report of the exercises at City Hall. Messages were 
read at the banquet from the President of the United 
States, Mr. Briand, president of the Council and 
Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, and Messrs. 
Joseph H. Choate, Theodore Roosevelt and Charles 
Stewart Davison, all three members of the Lafayette 
Day National Committee and Lafayette Day Citizens 
Committee of New York. 

The record of Lafayette Day would not be com- 
plete without mention of the newspapers and other 
publications which devoted editorial comments and 
special articles to Lafayette Day, a number of them 



13 



with pictorial features, others with patriotic drawings 
by well known cartoonists; while it is not possible to 
give a complete list of them, it may be stated that 
among the important articles devoted to Lafayette 
Day are those which appeared in the following publica- 
tions. 

Alabama: Birmingham Age-Herald 

* ' Journal 

Arizona : Yuma Daily Examiner 

California: Los Angeles Express 

San Francisco Argonaut 
Bulletin 
Chronicle 
Connecticut: Bridgeport Telegram 
District of Washington Herald 

Columbia :Washington Star 
Washington Times 
Georgia: Augusta Chronicle 

Cordele Dispatch 
Illinois : Chicago Journal 

Chicago News 
Indiana: Indianapolis News 

Kentucky: Louisville Courrier- Journal 

Times 
Louisiana: L'Abeille de Nouvelle-Orleans 

New Orleans American 

Times-Picayune 
States 
Maine : Bangor Commercial 

Maryland: Baltimore American 

News 
Sun 
Star 
Massachusetts : Boston Christian Science Monitor 
Globe 
Herald 
* ' Journal 
Post 



14 



Michigan : 

Minnesota: 

Missouri: 

New Jersey ; 



New York : 



Boston Record 

'* Transcript 
Fall River News 
Lynn Daily Item 
Springfield Republican 

' ' Union 

Detroit Free Press 
Duluth Herald 
St. Joseph News Press 
St. Louis Post Dispatch 
Atlantic City Union 
Elizabeth Journal 
Hackensack Record 
Newark News 
Albany Journal 
Albany Knickerbocker Press 
Brooklyn Citizen 
Brooklyn Eagle 
'' Times 

'' Standard Union 

Buffalo Enquirer 
* ' News 
" Times 
Elmira Star Gazette 
Jamestown Morning Post 
Hudson Observer 
Middletown Daily Argus 
New York American 
' ' * ' Courrier des Etats-Unis 
li a Christian Intelligencer 
*' *' Evening Journal 
'' *' Evening Mail 
'* *' Evening Post 
*' " Evening Sun 
*' " Evening Telegram 
'' Evening World 
" Globe 
'* '' Herald 
' ' ' ' Journal of Commerce 



15 



Ohio; 



Oregon : 
Pennsylvania : 



Rhode Island: 

Texas : 
Washington : 



New York Life 

'' Outlook 
'' Sun 
'' Times 
'' <' Town Topics 
a a Tribune 
'' World 
Rochester Post Express 

Times 
St. George, S. I. Zone 
Scottish American 
Troy Times 
Utica Daily Press 
Westchester News 
Watertown Times 
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune 

' ' Enquirer 

Cleveland Plain Dealer 
Eugene Guard 
Allentown Item 
Harrisburg Star-Independent 
Pittsburg Leader 

' ' Dispatch 

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin 
Evening Telegraph 
Inquirer 
Item 
Press 

Public Ledger 
Record 
Providence Evening Tribune 

* ' Journal 

Houston Post 
Tacoma News-Ledger 
Seattle Post Intelligencer 



16 

LAFAYETTE DAY EXERCISES 

held at 
Aldermanic Chambee, City Hall, 
New York City, September 6, 1916 
Hon. Alton B. Parkee, Presiding. 

Me. Paeker: 

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
In common with others of our fellow citizens in 
different parts of the United States, we meet to-day 
in appreciation and honor of one who as Major-Gen- 
eral of the United States Army and in other ways, 
rendered such service to our country in our great 
struggle for liberty, that while this Nation lives, his 
memory will be fondly cherished — General Lafayette. 
(Applause.) 

In the light of that service it is with thankful hearts 
that we recall his last visit to us. He came in pursu- 
ance of an invitation of Congress to visit the United 
States of America as its guest. That invitation was 
followed by a letter from the President offering to 
place a war vessel at his command. He accepted the 
invitation to be our guest, but declined the vessel. 
After his arrival, the President and Congress, all of 
the Governors and the Legislatures of the States, the 
Mayors of the cities and other officials of cities and 
towns, together with all the citizens joined in present- 
ing him a welcome such as no one else ever received in 
this country. When he reached the City of New York, 
the people turned out en masse to welcome him. Among 
many celebrations and entertainments which were 
given in his honor was the notable banquet on his 
sixty-seventh birthday. This was described in the 
press of the time as surpassing in brilliancy the many 
banquets of the past in this city given in honor of men 
whose public services endeared them to the people. 



17 

Not only the Governor, the Mayor and other prominent 
officers of state and city, but also more than foriy of 
the survivors of the Army were present to greet the 
last surviving Major-Ueneral of the War of the Bevo- 
lution. All over the country he went, visiting every 
single state, grown from the thirteen states when he 
first came to us, to twenty-four prosperous and popu- 
lous states. 

His sixty-eighth birthday was fittingly celebrated at 
the White House, where for several days he was the 
guest of President Adams. This occurred on the day 
preceding the one on which he sailed for home. The 
words of farewell were spoken on the Eastern steps 
of the White House in the presence of a multitude of 
people by the President, in the course of which he 
said: "Your visit has been to the people of the Union, 
a time of uninterrupted festivity and enjoyment in- 
spired by your presence." Congress appropriated 
$200,000. "in part payment" for the services which 
he had rendered to the people of the United States and 
the Government sent him home in a new frigate, named 
after the battlefield on which he was wounded — Bran- 
dywine. He sailed away to the home he loved with a 
heart overflowing with thankfulness that he had been 
able to serve us so well and assured of the affection, 
admiration and gratitude of all of the people of the 
United States, by evidence, the like of which had never 
before been presented to any other man in this country. 
Now we meet in honor of that great friend of the 
people of the United States. The celebration of ninety- 
two years ago in this city is one that it has been deter- 
mined shall be continued from time to time on his 
birthday. It began last year. It is to go on in this 
country so long that people will understand that Re- 
publics are not ungrateful to those who serve them 
both well and unselfishly. (Applause.) This great 
city of ours, with a population more than two millions 
greater than that of the thirteen states when he came 
to us extends to you a hearty welcome and for that pur- 



18 

pose, our Acting Mayor, Mr. Dowling, will now pre- 
sent to you the good wishes and the welcome of the 
City of New York. (Applause.) 

Mr. Dowling: 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
In behalf of the City of New York I welcome this 
apportunity to greet this distinguished assemblage, 
gathered here to-day to do honor to a great French- 
man, whose single-hearted devotion to the principles 
of liberty led him to give his personal aid and undoubt- 
ed influence to the cause of freedom in this country at 
the most critical period in our national history. His 
services, his example, were of \atal importance to the 
struggling Colonies. I am glad to be one of those pres- 
ent to-day to do tribute to his memory. I hope that 
the Lafayette Day Celebration will be most successful. 
(Applause.) 

Mr. Parker: 

Mr. Acting Mayor: We thank the city for its wel- 
come and we beg you to be assured of our appreciation 
of your courteous expression of its kindly welcome 
and greeting. 

I now have the pleasure of presenting to you our 
neighbor and friend, Mr. Robert Bacon, who has among 
his other public services, represented the United States 
in France as our Ambassador, and I would ask him if 
he will be so good as to extend a welcome to the Am- 
bassador from France to the United States. (Ap- 
plause.) 

Mr. Bacon : 

Mr. Ambassador, Mr. Acting Mayor, and Mr. Presi- 
dent : 

It is a very great pleasure and privilege for me to 
speak to you here today. I appreciate more than I can 



19 

tell you the honor that is done to me in asking me to 
speak to you briefly of Lafayette. As for the welcome 
to the Ambassador, my friend, I may say, I can add 
very little to the eloquent words of your President, and 
of the Acting Mayor, but he knows, I think — I am sure 
— that my heart goes out to him. (Applause.) 

On the sixth day of September, in the year 1757, a 
day honored by the peoples of two republics, and des- 
tined to be a day set apart in the history of mankind, a 
child was born, conceived in liberty and dedicated to 
the realization of political freedom. By birth a sub- 
ject of France, by Act of Congress an American citi- 
zen, his name is "sweet as honey on the lips of men." 

Of proud and ancient lineage, reared in the lap of 
luxury, he discerned across an ocean the flush of liberty 
as of a sun strangely rising — not setting — in the west, 
and putting aside place and position as unworthy of 
ambition, he associated himself with the lowly and 
oppressed of the new world. ''When I heard your 
cause my heart enlisted. ' ' But although he came single 
handed, as it were, offering his services without rank 
and without pay, and his life a sacrifice, if need be, yet 
through him and his devotion to that cause, France 
and the United States fought shoulder to shoulder at 
Yorktown, and through their co-operation, the inde- 
pendence of the struggling colonies was realized, and 
the liberty of a whole continent assured. At this great 
and crowning moment, Lafayette and Rochambeau 
stood shoulder to shoulder, and to-day they stand 
shoulder to shoulder in the city which bears the name 
of their great companion in arms, facing the White- 
house, and reminding by their presence the successors 
of Washington in the Presidency of that perpetual alli- 
ance of two peoples evidenced, indeed, by no scrap of 
paper, but inscribed in the hearts of every American. 
(Applause.) 

When the independence of the United States was 
formally proclaimed on the 4th of July, 1776, Lafayette 
was less than 19 years of age. On the 26th day of 



20 

March, 1777, he sailed from Bordeaux in a vessel of 
his own furnishing, but his departure was delayed by 
royal command. He escaped to Spain, whence, on the 
20th of April, with DeKalb, later to fall in the cause 
they espoused, with some chosen companions, he put to 
sea in his vessel, aptly called the "Victory." Still a 
youth of 19, he reached the coast of South Carolina the 
13th day of June. He made his way under difficulties 
to Philadelphia, then the capital of the country, where 
he arrived on the 27th day of July. The little city 
swarmed with adventurers, eager for high command 
in return for real or alleged experience. Commissions 
to foreigners meant lack of commissions to deserving 
Americans, and the reception of Lafayette was, as he 
himself said, "more like a dismissal than a welcome," 
but Lafayette had come in the interests of a cause, and 
he was not to be deprived of the opportunity of serving 
it. He adressed the Congress, setting forth his circum- 
stances, and the reasons which had impelled him to 
cross the ocean to offer his services to the young coun- 
try. He felt that he had earned the right to serve, say- 
ing that, "After the sacrifices that I have made in this 
cause, I have the right to ask two favors at your hands : 
the one is, to serve without pay, at my own expense; 
and the other, that I be allowed to serve at first as a 
volunteer." (Applause.) Congress could not resist 
such an appeal. It therefore resolved that, "his serv- 
ices be accepted, and that in consideration of his zeal, 
illustrious family and connections, he have rank and 
commission of major general in the army of the United 
States." The commission, however, was meant by 
Congress to be honorary, leaving it to Washington to 
avail himself of Lafayette's services, or to appoint him 
to such command as events should justify. 

His zeal for the cause was sincere, his courage, 
shown at Brandywine, was unquestioned ; his tact was 
even greater than either. Upon his arrival at Camp, 
Washington had said: "It is somewhat embarrassing 
to us to show ourselves to an officer who has just come 



21 

from the army of France." To which delicate compli- 
ment Lafayette finely replied: "I am here to learn, 
not to teach." 

He not only felt his youth and inexperience, but 
the embarrassment that his presence in high command 
might create. He overcame every difficulty. ' ' I read, ' ' 
he said, "I study, I examine, I listen, I reflect, and upon 
the result of all of this I make an effort to form my 
opinion and to put into it as much common sense as I 
can. I am cautious not to talk much, lest I should say 
some foolish thing, and still more cautious in my ac- 
tions lest I should do some foolish thing, for I do not 
want to disappoint the confidence that the Americans 
have so kindly placed in me." 

His conduct at Brandy wine, and the further evi- 
dence of skill, as well as courage, in the affair at Glou- 
cester, coupled with his faultless devotion to the cause, 
in which his heart was enlisted, led Washington to 
recommend to Congress, within less than six months 
after his arrival in America, that he be appointed to 
the command of a Division and Congress resolved that, 
"General Washington be informed it is highly agree- 
able to Congress that the Marquis de Lafayette be ap- 
pointed to the command of a Division in the Continen- 
tal Army." He was accordingly put in command of a 
Virginia Division, and he shared the hardships of de- 
feat and the sweets of victory with his men. He went 
through the trying winter at Valley Forge, where, as 
he tells us, "The unfortunate soldiers were in want 
of everything; they had neither coats nor hats, nor 
shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze until they 
grew black, and it was often necessary to amputate 
them. * ♦ * The army frequently passed whole 
days w^ithout food, and the patient endurance of both 
soldiers and officers was a miracle which every mo- 
ment seemed to renew." 

The recognition of the independence of the United 
States by France, and the defensive alliance of the 



22 

6th day of February, 1778, due in no small measure to 
Lafayette's influence, put an end to gloom and de- 
spondency. Great Britain declared war against France 
for its support of the cause in which not only Lafayette, 
but France, was now enlisted, and the United Colonies 
found themselves possessed of an ally, as powerful as 
it was sympathetic, generous, and high minded. The 
wants of Valley Forge were made good. Clothing and 
equipment came for the men, ammunition and supplies 
for the troops. A French army, under Rochambeau, 
was landed ; a French fleet stationed itself in American 
waters. The Virginia Division under Lafayette, out- 
manoeuvered Cornwallis. The allied armies of Wash- 
ington and of Rochambeau marched south to join La- 
fayette. The French fleet, under DeGrasse cut otf 
escape by water from Yorktown, and beseiged alike by 
land and sea, Cornwallis, on October 19th, 1781, sur- 
rendered his army to Washington, and the independ- 
ence of the United States, — thanks to the kindly aid of 
our first, our great, and our only ally, — became a fact. 

To-day as we celebrate the birth of Lafayette, his 
devoted country is taking part once more in a war of 
independence, a war which will save, and has already 
saved, civilization and free institutions from the impo- 
sition of a theory of government in the hands of a 
dominant sovereign will, just as, on an October day in 
the year 732, Charles, surnamed Martel, halted an in- 
vading army at Tours, thus preserving France and 
western Europe from an alien and militant civilization. 
The battle of the Marne, fought and won by Lafayette's 
countryman, Joffre, on Lafayette's birthday (great 
applause and cheers), makes of the 6th day of Sep- 
tember a date memorable, not only in the history of 
our country, but in the annals of civilization. 

In commemorating the services of Lafayette, the 
friend of liberty, the friend of America, and the friend 
of Washington, our hearts go out to France (great ap- 
plause), in her struggle for mankind, for ideals — for 
our American ideals — (great applause and cheers) 



23 

and, as Rochambeau said to Washington in 1781, so 
to-day I say to you, sir, the Ambassador of the glorious 
country of Lafayette and of Rochambeau : 

" Entre vous, entre nous, a la vie, a la fnort." 
(Long continued applause.) 

Mr. Paeker: 

When the Committee came to consider who should 
be invited to deliver the principal address on this occa- 
sion, Dr. John H. Finley, the head of the Department 
of Education was quickly and unanimously chosen. 
(Applause.) While it was perfectly easy to agree to 
invite him, it was not so easy to have the invitation 
find him. It seems that the good Doctor in need of a 
well earned vacation, had wandered into the New 
Hampshire Mountains and Woods where he might gain 
it without interference and so it happened that the in- 
vitation of the Committee did not succeed in reaching 
him until Sunday last. However, his loyal and patriotic 
heart and his great admiration for Lafayette have com- 
pelled him to forego the remainder of his short vaca- 
tion and come to us. I have now the great pleasure 
of introducing our friend. Dr. Finley. 

Mr. Finley: 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Acting Mayor, Mr. Ambassador 
to France that is, Mr. Ambassador to France that was, 
Mr. Ambassador from France that was, that is and 
that is to be, and Mme. Jusserand, Ladies and Gentle- 
men: 

I need not say to you who have just heard the elo- 
quent and stirring address of Mr. Bacon, that despite 
the gracious announcement of our honored Chairman, 
the ''principal address" of this occasion has already 
been made. 

When I received the invitation, a few days ago, to 
take part in these exercises, I had just crossed, from 
Old Fort Ticonderoga, the lake which bears the name 



24 

of that indomitable son of France and pioneer in Amer- 
ica, Cbamplain, and had made my way on foot through 
a pass in the Green Mountains into the valleys which 
look up to the greater ranges beyond, — ranges whose 
peaks were doubtless seen by Frenchmen, first of Euro- 
peans : Verezzano perhaps, when under commission 
from Francis the First, Jacques Cartier from the crest 
of Mont Real and Champlain from the New England 
coast which he explored while some of the Pilgrim 
Fathers were still in childhood or youth. Highest 
rises the Presidential Range, with Mount Washington 
commanding; aloof, austere, rugged, with its summit 
often enveloped in cloud; and fronting it a parallel 
range of alien name, remembering perhaps some Fran- 
conian association or perhaps some Carlovingian leg- 
end, with Mount LaFayette standing in picturesque 
prominence, highest of the group. 

It was a happy and prescient christening that M^rote 
in the baptismal record of the eternal hills the names 
of those who had noblest part in the founding of this 
republic: Washington's first, of Americans; Lafay- 
ette's first, of Europeans. 

I had wished to celebrate the natal day of Lafayette 
by taking a road into some nearer valley or climbing by 
trail to some neighboring peak, in order to see the 
Mountain Lafayette in all its early autumn glory, with 
the cross which it wears, as it were America's Cross 
of Honor hanging from its shoulders. 

But I have followed the example of one of the White 
Mountaineers, in 1824. One now living in that same 
mountaineer's house, himself a lover of these same 
mountains, said that his uncle drove in 1824 to Ports- 
mouth seventy miles away to see Lafayette, and added : 
"Lafayette is the only hero whom this republic has 
loved without reserve." There in the mountains they 
keep the visible eternal symbol of our memory of Amer- 
ica 's dearest friend. But, as the mountaineer, T have 
come to the city, to the very place where Lafayette 
stood in 1824, to find in the hearts of a remembering 



25 

people an even more sublime and as immutable a me- 
morial, invisible, but none the less real, which we must 
make imperishable, by leading our youth, through the 
valleys of our own appreciation, or up to the summits 
of great lives of his day, to see and to love. It is our 
happy duty to keep that valorous life as distinct upon 
the horizon of the youth of America as the Mountain 
Lafayette is to one who walks up the Pemigewasset 
Valley in a clear autumn day. 

And Lafayette in youth, not in age ; for it was La- 
fayette the rich, titled, homely, lank, red-haired young 
man of nineteen and "of modest, even embarrassed, 
demeanor," whom this republic has reason to remem- 
ber today, not the courtly man of sixty-seven as paint- 
ed by Morse in the portrait above us, — except as the 
older includes the younger. 

It was a youth no older than most freshmen in Am- 
erican colleges (though he was himself a graduate of 
a French college in the usual academical course) who 
hearing at a dinner party in Metz that "the remote, 
scattered and unprotected settlers of the wilderness 
had solemnly declared themselves an independent peo- 
ple," resolved to abandon the pleasures of the "gayest 
court and capital of the world, ' ' to leave his young wife 
and child, and to risk his life and fortune in the cause 
for which his heart "at once enlisted." 

It was a youth, still at nineteen, who undismayed 
by the news of the retreat of Washington's "ragged 
and suffering army" across New Jersey, purchased a 
vessel (over which he was "horribly cheated") and, 
escaping by embarkation from a Spanish port, roused 
French sentiment to an expression of sympathy so 
pronounced that it advanced the alliance with the new 
nation which a sovereign and ministry, fearful of dis- 
astrous consequences, might well seek to avert. 

It was a youth, not even yet out of his teens, who 
landing in South Carolina, a Black Musketeer of King 
Louis' household, rode 600 miles to make proffer of his 
service as a volunteer, and without pay,' to Congress, 



26 

(who unceremoniously kept him waiting in the street 
at first as an adventurer, but afterward gave him a 
commission as a major-general, "a brevet of immor- 
tality" it seemed to him), and then to Washington, 
who adopted him as a member of his military family, 
admitted him into his war council by the side of Greene 
from his forge, Stark from the forests and granite 
hills, and Putnam from the farm; invited him to share 
dinners which were hardly comparable with those at 
Versailles, and drew him into what proved to be the 
most beautiful friendship in all American history. In- 
deed, says Trevelyan: ''The history of the world has 
seldom had to tell of a more honorable connection be- 
tween two men, more conscientiously devoted to great 
principles." 

It was a young man, just turned twenty, who at the 
Battle of Brandywine, hastened in the "direction of 
the music to the sound of which so many of his progen- 
itors had died" and fought with such ardor as to make 
him insensible to the wound he had received in battle, 
a mere boy of twenty who strengthened the morale of 
the army, even at Valley Forge, and gave heart to the 
whole people by his gallant spirit, for in that splendid 
incarnation of youth, France herself seemed to be fight- 
ing for the independence of this nascent nation. 

It was a young man of only twenty-one who de- 
clined the seductive glory of coordinate command with 
his revered Washington, and who w^as thanked by Con- 
gress for his splendid service in bringing the French 
and American armies into harmonious feeling after an 
unsuccessful expedition in New England. 

It was a young man of but twenty-two who went 
back to France and did what no else could have done 
to give occasion for that popular demonstration which 
evoked the substantial and disinterested aid that made 
victory for the Colonists possible — an assistance which 
even with hundreds of millions of dollars we cannot 
repay! (Great applause.) 

And it was, finally, a young man, just past his twen- 



27 

ty-fourtli birthday who, having taken a vitally import- 
ant part, as Mr. Bacon has clearly set forth, in the 
concluding campaign of the Revolutionary War, was 
present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. 

Thus the great service of Lafayette to America was 
consummated before most young American college 
men have begun seriously to think of public responsi- 
bility or to take a possessing interest in the world's 
affairs. 

France has given this New World explorers, sold- 
iers and priests whose adventures and endurances 
lighted with splendors of valor and faith all the f orest- 
and prairie-and water-paths of New France, from 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico; but 
here has she set before the youth of America the genius 
of her own youth, forever to intimate the virtues which 
are undying in her, — in her who, (as an English his- 
torian said before the present war), has always 
"drawn her sword in behalf of the weak, — for the Pole, 
the Greek, for struggling Italy, for the insurgent North 
American colonies," and whose "people have never 
turned from a friendly compact at the call of their in- 
terests." (Great applause.) 

Here, in Lafayette, is the incarnation of her per- 
petual youth. Disinterested in purpose! Thinking 
not of cost or sacrifice if the cause be just, even though 
it seems to be lost! Ever beginning again with un- 
quenchable spirit ! 

"In the peasants' huts," said Voltaire, with what 
seems now remarkable divination, "the spirit of 
France never changes, — it is always the same ; it is for 
all time. You English, nor all otheis, can not blow out 
that candle which is the spirit of France. * * * 
The spirit of France is the candle of Europe, and you 
English will be its screen against the blowing out, 
though in spasms of stupidity you flaunt the exting- 
uisher." 

But here was the spirit of France's unquenchable, 
unca^cuhiting, impulsive, generous spirit exhibited in 



28 

her noblest family, — in castle as in hut. And if, as a 
modern French philosopher has said, youth is the me- 
dium through which the qualities of a society are best 
to show themselves, how preciously is the worth of 
France appraised by this illustrious youth whose birth- 
day we celebrate in common with her who is immortal 
through such youth. 

We fear at times to apply this test of our ov\ti youth 
to ourselves. But when one reads, as I have been read- 
ing, of the offering of our young men, and especially 
college men, in France, in trench and ambulance and 
aviation corps, one cannot doubt that the spirit of La- 
fayette is among our youth. But our supreme task is 
to make that spirit universal, as it is in France today, 
to stir every youth to see that here we have the glorious 
thing for which Lafayette offered and risked his all, 
and to make every youth ready and willing to give his 
all for this "glorious thing," which must daily be lifted 
from the commonplace. (Applause) 

Edward Everett, himself a young man, delivering 
his eulogy on Lafayette in Faneuil Hall, "at the re- 
quest of the young men of Boston" in 1836, said of 
the youth, Lafayette, "He comes unprepared, because 
he comes to a great Preparation of Liberty. * * * 
He comes in youth to the great monitorial School of 
Freedom to imbibe its holy doctrine from an authentic 
source — from the lips of the Pure Master." 

Here is still in existence that Place of Preparation 
of Liberty, that great monitorial School of Freedom, 
and though the Pure and Austere Master, to whom 
Lafayette was both pupil and son, has gone, we have 
still for our youth the memory of his pure tuition and 
the glorious example of one who gave his all to study 
the perilous lessons of freedom in this greatest school 
of democracy, established by the aid of France, in the 
earth, for the teachin'f of all nations. 

Prepared the youth Lafayette w^as in spirit to en- 
dure the tuition ; and our supreme need is of this prep- 
aration of spirit in our youth. All else will come with 



29 

it, but the vigorous training, the universal discipline, 
must come, too. 

Lescarbot, the young French barrister, who came 
to our savage shores three centuries ago (1606), in an 
apostrophe to France, said: "You must make alliance, 
dear Mother, in imitation of the course of the sun." 
In Lafayette did the French spirit make Westward 
alliance beyond the binding of any treaty; and in the 
teaching of our youth to keep in their hearts such chiv- 
alry, such "adorable faith," such passion for justice 
and liberty as Lafayette showed, shall we keep forever 
this spiritual treaty. (Great applause) 

But I must not turn aside to speak to our own 
youth. Our faces and theirs must be turned all, this 
day, toward the person and service of this heroic 
young Frenchman whom ever we would keep in shin- 
ing memory. 

As I have ridden in my journey to the city through 
the night into the light of this day, my own thought of 
him has found its expression in a homage which I as- 
sume to make our common tribute and the appraisal 
of all time: 

Septembek 6. 

"Whose day shall this day be?" I heard one cry 
At dawn, this morning, through the gray sea mist 
That hid the towers and tenements, as if 
The city were again the huddled town; 
' ' Who '11 win for aye this precious bit of time, 
"Which, ere it ends, will make Earth's habitants, 
"(Or such of them as stay in their clay huts), 
* ' Older by some two thousand thousand years, 
"But richer by a thousand million deeds? — 
"What am I offered for this autumn day? 
"Who'll make a bid? Ere morrow it must go 
"To him who bids the most. Time cannot wait 
"Though he would fain 'bid in' its growing light 
"That soon will turn to warm and golden noon, 



30 

''And paint the earth against the misty skies, 

"As if Corot had come again to life; — 

"Fain keep its genial heat to warm the heart 

"And hearth when snows are deep on Vosges and Alp. 

"Wake men and bid! See how its conquering glow 

"Makes all the circling rivers amulets 

"Of argent; cities varicolored gems, 

"And land and sea a tranquil tapestry! 

"What am I bid?" 

And one, ere others could, 
Cried out: "I fling unnumbered lives of men 
' * To buy it in the planet 's calendar ; 
"To crush a planet-capital and make 

"A holiday for millions. This, my bid!" 

****** 

" 'Unnumbered lives of others' am I bid, 
"Thousands of human skulls and skeletons. — 
"Does anyone bid more?" 

' ' I give my own, ' ' 
"Je donne ma vie!" As many thousand cried 
In answering deed of self-forgetfulness, 

Or, choking, gasped in death, beside the Marne. 

* ***** 

Then rose a loud confusion, as when men 
Bid in a stock exchange; one off 'ring this. 
One that : an epaulet, a bag of gold 

A name, a serum or a victory. 

*****# 

All day the bidding ran, on into hours 
When labor, knocking at the doors of dawn. 
Was silent and the captains ceased command. 
When only scholars bid, bent o'er their books. 
Mothers o'er babes or nurses o'er the sick; 
Till late, there rose the ghost of one long dead, 
Our first "Immortal," who for millions spoke: 
"0 Author of all Days! There lived a youth, 
"A tall and slender boy, of flaming crown. 



31 

''A son of France, but dear as ever son 

*'0f own could be to one whom I have heard 

''A people call their country's father. — He, 

"He was a gallant youth, noble of birth, 

"But noble also in the noblest use 

"Of that surpassing word. He risked his all; 

"His fortune, home and life; not for his king, 

"Or country; not for rank or rich reward; 

"But for an alien and a kingless land, 

* ' Struggling despairfully but with just cause 

"For that sweet liberty, through which alone 

"Mankind can rise. — And by the unbought aid 

"Of this French youth, this boy of flaming crown 

"And flaming heart, came victory at last, 

"Came victory and liberty for us. 

"He could but bid his fortune and his life, — 

"We add to his brave all, what we, in turn, 

* ' A great, lank, youth-republic, now may give 

* ' In kind, and do of love engage to give, 

* ' So long as Thou, who didst appoint the lights 

"Of heav'n for signs and seasons, days and years, 

' ' Shalt yearly bring September sixth to bless 

"In endless calendar this whirling earth.'* 

* * * * * m 

The hammer on the bell of midnight fell. 
"Going," he said, the Ancient One of Days, 
"Going," and, with the last sonorous stroke. 
Cried "Gone." "This day is his, forever his, 
"The son of France, the friend of Washington, 
"The brave god-brother of America, 
"The youth, youth-summoning, de Lafayette!" 

(Great and continued applause.) 

Mr. Parker: 

The Ambassador from France to the United States 
has a warm place in the hearts of our people. (Long 
continued applause.) He has been with us many years, 
so long that even those who do not know him person- 
ally have come to love him. It is a great delight to us 



32 

that he honors us this day by his presence here. He 
has expressed a wish to acknowledge the addresses of 
welcome which have been presented here by the Acting 
Mayor of the City, by Mr. Bacon, and others, and at 
the same time to express his appreciation that this 
country honors Lafayette. 

I take pleasure in presenting the Ambassador from 
France. (The audience rises. Long continued ap- 
plause.) 

M. Jusseeand: 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Acting Mayor, and my dear 
friends, the American Ambassadors to France, ladies 
and gentlemen: Of all the tasks that were ever given 
to any man mine is certainly the sweetest. I have to 
express a sentiment with which my heart is full, grati- 
tude for that Committee of American citizens which in 
these days of trial for the ally of old, remembers the 
time when that young officer Lafayette came over and 
did something for the republic on this side of the wa- 
ter: two republics are now fronting each other on the 
two shores of the ocean. 

I feel indeed full of gratitude toward our eloquent 
chairman for what he has so well said of the hero of 
the day and of his country, and for what he has unde- 
servedly said of the present representative of that 
country; toward the Acting Mayor who interrupted 
for us his important duties in the immense city en- 
trusted to his care, and toward the authors of ''the 
two addresses of the day", Mr. Bacon and Dr. 
Finley; Mr. Bacon, my diplomatic brother, a very 
dear friend for many years (applause); and with 
him that worthy colleague of ours, Mr. Sharp, now 
Ambassador to France who has come such a long way 
from his home to bring us a message of warm-hearted 
sympathy ; both worthy continuators of the first envoy 
who represented your country in France and who have 
emulated him in that same feeling for her manifested 
by that famous American, Benjamin Franklin. To 



33 

Franklin, when he had returned to Philadelphia, Ro- 
chambeau's aide, Chastellux once wrote: "When you 
were in France it w^as useless to praise the Americans ; 
we had only to say 'Look, here is one.' " (Applause.) 
His successors have not lost sight of this example. 

With that double power which is his, as an historian 
and a poet. President Finley has vividly brought back 
to our minds the events which took place 140 years ago ; 
we think of the immense change, of that small strug- 
gling nation scarcely yet a nation, who Vv^anted to be 
free, confronted by such perils, possessed, as it seemed 
of such inadequate means. And we think of that tall, 
thin, rather shy, practically unknown young man of 
twenty, who wanted to help a great cause and seemed 
so unlikely to be of use, that, as Doctor Finley has re- 
minded us, when he presented himself to Congress at 
Philadelphia, he was received in the street, and not 
invited to come in. 

And now what do we see? An immense nation, a 
development so prodigious that in all the history of 
the world nothing like it has occurred. And what do 
we see, too ? The fame of the unknown young man, has 
kept pace with the growth of the nation ; he has become 
one of the most illustrious men in the world, one of 
those to whom have been raised the most statues. 

The nation grew as trees grow when they have the 
necessary sap and soil; it grew because it possessed 
not only the splendid resources of its territory and 
climate, but because it had the sap, those resources of 
more import consisting in force of character, pluck, 
energy, inventiveness, capacity for enthusiasm and 
abnegation, all those noble feelings which men who are 
the molders of the future, — and no one has more of 
the future in his hands than one who like Dr. Finley 
is at the head of a university, — are careful to instill 
into the new generations. 

Two things are indispensable for the efficiency of 
a gun, something to put in it and some one to put be- 
hind it. Lafayette was, at the time of your severest 



34 

trial, one of the men behind the gun ; not undeservedly 
his fame has grown with yours. 

What he could do at twenty is a wonder, and has 
been called a miracle ; not a unique one however. For 
twenty was the age of that other French defender of 
liberty, that model being, that saint, the maid of Lor- 
raine, Joan of Arc. (Great applause.) At the same 
age, fighting for our people, Joan of Arc succeeded, 
and now the saint to whom you of New York recently 
raised a noble statue, still from afar, from above, 
watches over France; her spirit is with our armies. 
(Great applause and cheers.) 

You honor Lafayette and we honor him too, because 
we owe him much. We owe to him the first Declara- 
tion of Eights that was drawn up in our Revolution, 
and we owe to him a thing for which we are more grate- 
ful than for anything else, our flag, the tricolor, the 
flag of Valmy (applause), the flag of the Marne (great 
applause), the flag of Verdun (great applause and 
cheers). Repeating the words of your national an- 
them: 

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air 

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there, * * * 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave, 

— we are proud to think that half a year and more has 
passed, and the tricolor is still waving and will continue 
to wave over the shattered city. (Applause.) 

Franklin, when he had returned to Philadelphia, 
was once watching flies which seemed to be dead, 
and a whiff of air came and they revived, and he said, 
'^I should like to be like those flies, to go to sleep for 
a time (for a hundred years) and then return to Amer- 
ica and see what has taken place. ' ' And he described, 
indeed very accurately, what he thought would have 
taken place ; the vast changes, the wilderness replaced 
by prosperous cities, roads and canals connecting the 
remotest parts of the land, immense towns, an immense 



35 

population, inexhaustible resources, a vast navy, a 
country immense in everything. 

If he should return to-day, he would find indeed 
wonderful changes, and yet he would notice many 
things that have not changed, the best things, the chief 
ones: that love of liberty which is extended to men 
and nations who have the same love; that pluck and 
energy to which nothing is impossible; that feeling for 
France which had been his. Many American citizens 
have shown that in this respect there has been no 
change, that the beauty of the American heart has re- 
mained what it was in his time; the man behind the 
gun is the same man he had known ; and we of France 
feel a gratitude that will not die towards those many 
Americans who have sent help to our victims of the 
war, those youths who have succored our wounded or 
who have actually enlisted as the French had done in 
'76, and for those bold heroes whom one of the suc- 
cessors of George Washington has called ' ' The Laf ay- 
ettes of the Air." 

President Finley wrote one of the books in which 
we French take most pride, about our former explorers 
of the valley of the Mississippi ; he gave it a title with 
two meanings, so one may choose : ' ' The French in the 
Heart of America." 

After this war and when what has been done by so 
many American citizens shall be better known, a book 
will be written in France which will be called, "Amer- 
ica in the Heart of the French." (Great applause.) 

(The address delivered by the French Ambassador 
at the Lafayette Day banquet given in the evening by 
the France-America Society, and at which he was the 
guest of honor, is included at pp. 39-46 with his kind 
permission.) 

Mr. Parker: 

The Ambassador from the United States to France, 
being in this country on a much needed vacation, has 



36 

come all the way from liis home, 600 miles, to greet 
his friend, the Ambassador from France, and to join 
with us in celebrating the birthday of Lafayette. 

He has no place on the program. Indeed I did not 
know that he would be here until we were about to 
assemble. Under the circumstances we can hardly ask 
him to make an address, but I do hope that he will join 
us in greeting our distinguished guests. 

Mr. Sharp: 

I have a feeling of gratitude towards your Honor- 
able Chairman to-day for letting me down so easily; 
for if you had expected much of a speech from me at 
this eleventh hour, he has certainly found a way of 
providing a most excellent excuse, in better form than 
I could have done. It is a little difficult to make an 
address before such a distinguished audience as is 
here to-day without some preparation. It is more dif- 
ficult and trjdng when what you thought you would say 
about France of to-day has been ruthlessly taken from 
under you, as it was taken away by the distinguished 
gentleman, Mr. Finley, who has just preceded me. For 
I did want to say something, not so much about Lafay- 
ette, of more than a century ago — though that is an 
inspiring subject to an American audience always — 
but I did want to say a few words about his noble coun- 
try and its noble people of today. (Applause.) 

It is true that my coming was in a way unheralded. 
When I received the invitation, rather delayed in com- 
ing to me, I at first thought that I might not have the 
time to spend on account of the shortness of my vaca- 
tion; but when I revolved over in my mind the many 
courtesies and many acts of kindness that the Govern- 
ment of France has uniformly shown me — and I am 
glad to say on every occasion manifested likewise to 
the Government of the United States and to the people 
of the United States — and actuated by the additional 
motive of again seeing the distinguished Ambassador 



37 

from France to America, who typifies in so many ways 
the nobility of the French people (great applause), I 
decided to be present here today. 

The gentleman who preceded me just hit upon one 
theme that I was going to take a few minutes to speak 
of, and that is when he pointed out that the French sen- 
timent, and French inspiration, if I may call it such, 
that is demonstrated today — I may not use his exact 
language, but the thought is the same — was not born 
today, nor yesterday, but is inmate and inherent in 
that noble race. (Applause.) 

No one could live among the French people without 
testifying to that fact and observing it everywhere. 

As you walk in the parks and upon the boulevards 
and upon the streets, you are impressed more than ever 
with the truth of the old saying that the child is verily 
father to the man ; because no race of people can show 
the solicitude for the proper training of the heart and 
mind of a child as France does without producing a 
great and perpetually strong nation. (Applause.) 
You see it manifested everywhere, and what I say to- 
day in praise of the French people, their courage, their 
patriotism, their sense of justice, their politeness that 
we sometimes misconstrue on this side of the Atlantic 
and confuse with a superficial veneering when it 
reaches to the heart and from the heart outward, all 
those words of praise, every neutral government on 
the face of the earth and even those who are fighting 
against France today, are willing to accord to that 
great country. (Applause.) 

As I sat here today and learned that this is a com- 
paratively new event, I believed inaugurated last year 
for the first time, I was glad that there is a promise for 
its perpetuity. It calls to my mind a scene across the 
Atlantic in the outskirts of Paris, in one of those num- 
erous cemeteries, inconspicuous in size as well as local- 
ity, where all that is mortal of Lafayette is buried, a 
simple tomb, as indeed the tomb is simple of his great 
compatriot, George Washington, at Mount Vernon. At 



38 

the side of that tomb it has been the custom for many 
years past for the representatives of the American 
colony in Paris to gather on the 4th day of July and 
deposit a beautiful wreath of flowers and commemorate 
the services of that great patriot. I am glad that you 
are about to inaugurate the same custom here, and I 
hope that it will grow and continue in popular favor. 
I hope it will do much to cement in fraternal ties of 
affection the two great peoples of the two great repub- 
lics. (Applause.) 

Mr. Paeker: 

Mr. Ambassador: We are grateful for your pres- 
ence and thank you for your address. The great con- 
flict beyond the seas which saddens all hearts in Amer- 
ica and which we hope will soon cease, does not prevent 
us from allowing our affection to stray where it will. 
Our country is neutral but that neutrality does not 
compel us to forget — aye, we could not forget if we 
would — the fact that France first recognized our gov- 
ernment. (Great applause.) We could not forget if 
we would that it was closely followed by two treaties, 
one of them of alliance and of vital importance to the 
United States, and certainly we never will forget while 
the life of the United States lasts your fleet in our har- 
bor and your soldiers at Yorktown. (Great applause.) 

May I in closing the exercises read a few sentences 
from the order of President Jackson, issued to the 
Army and Navy upon receiving news of the death of 
Lafayette : 

"Lafayette was a citizen of France but he was 
"a distinguished friend of the United States. In 
''his early life he embarked in that contest which 
"secured freedom and independence to our coun- 
"try. His services and sacrifices constitute part 
"of our Revolutionary history, and his memory 
"will be second only to that of Washington in the 
"hearts of the American people. In his own coun- 



39 

"'try and in ours he was a zealous and uniform 
''friend and advocate of rational liberty. Consist- 
"ent in his principles and conduct, he never dur- 
"ing a long life committed an act which exposed 
''him to just accusation or which will expose his 
"memory to reproach. Engaged in many of the 
"important events which fixed the attention of 
"the world and invited to guide the destinies of 
"France at two of the most momentous eras of 
"her history, his political integrity and personal 
"disinterestedness have not been called into ques- 
"tion. 

"He came in his youth to defend our country. 
"He came in the maturity of his age to witness 
"her growth, in all the elements of prosperity, 
"and while witnessing these he received those 
"testimonials of national gratitude, which proved 
"how strong was his hold upon the affections of 
"the American people. In ordering this homage 
"to be paid to the memory of one so honorable 
"in the field, so wise in council, so endeared in 
"private life and so well and favorably known to 
"both hemispheres, the president feels assured 
"that he is anticipating the sentiments not of the 
"Army and Navy only, but of the whole Ameri- 
"can people." (Applause.) 

The meeting is now adjourned. 



SPEECH OF THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR 

at the Lafayette Day Banquet given in New York 

on the evening of September 6th, 1916 

bv the France- America Society. 



When Lafayette visited this country for the last 
time in 1824 and received a welcome unparalleled in 
history, banquets without number were offered him 
in which toasts were drunk, also without number. The 



40 

rule had been in olden days of thirteen toasts in honor 
of the thirteen original states, but the rule was dis- 
carded then and American ingenuity knew no limits. 
Among so many toasts, the most original perhaps was 
one to the souls of Phocion, Themistocles and the other 
victims of republican ingratitude, so that they might 
know in heaven that what was true in their days was 
not in ours. 

Indeed it was not. If there is, among the virtues 
of the American nation, one which cannot be contested 
by any, it is her gratitude and the pleasure she takes 
in being grateful. 

The last in date of the innumerable tokens of 
American love towards Lafayette is the present com- 
memoration, due to the initiative of patriotic citizens, 
and honored by the presence of so many men whose 
heart and mind are ever ready to uphold any noble 
cause. The first in date was obtained by Lafayette 
shortly after he had landed, at twenty, on these shores, 
and was indeed the greatest recompense America ever 
bestowed on him: that was the friendship of General 
Washington. 

That friendship, so deep, so tender, was from the 
first emblematic of the feeling of Lafayette for Amer- 
ica and of America for Lafayette. Between him and 
this country it was really a case of love at first sight. 
He was scarcely landed, after his risky journey on 
his tiny ship, the best part of which was its name. 
La Victoire, than he was writing to his youthful wife, 
his "dear heart", as he calls her, telling her of his 
first impressions, which were as follows: 

"I must now speak to you of the country, my 
dear heart, and of its inhabitants. They are as 
lovable as my enthusiasm had fancied them to be. 
Simplicity of manners, a desire to oblige, love of 
country and of liberty, a sweet equality reign here 
among all people. The richest man and the poor- 
est are on a level, and though there are very large 



41 

fortunes in this country, no one could detect the 
slightest difference in their manners towards one 
another * * * American women are very pretty 
and simple * * * What delights me especially is 
that all citizens are brothers * * * All the inhab- 
itants own some property and all have rights equal 
to those of the most powerful landowners of the 
country. ' ' 

Nothing impressed him more than that absence of 
classes so new and congenial to him. Liberty was bet- 
ter understood in Europe than equality. Owing to the 
French thinkers of the 18th century, Liberty had be- 
come a religion for the upholding of which many were 
ready to die, as they did shortly after. Those thinkers 
(and that was one early and powerful connecting link 
between France and England) rendered full justice to 
their British predecessors. Summing up his opinions 
on the English, Voltaire had said: "The English, as 
it seems to me, have not such good historians as we 
have; they have no regular tragedies, but they have 
charming comedies, admirable pieces of poetry — and 
philosophers who ought to be the preceptors of man- 
kind." 

But in England as in France there remained classes, 
while in America that wonder was to be seen : Liberty 
in practice and withal no ranks and everybody con- 
tented. The lesson was not lost upon the young man, 
who having gone back to France, began to exert him- 
self in favor of reforms. "Heaven saw fit", as Daniel 
Webster said, "that the electric spark of liberty should 
be conducted, through Lafayette, from the New World 
to the Old." And it is a touching thing to see him at 
work in France with the same ardent sincerity which 
had brought him to the United States, buying estates 
in our colony of Cayenne just to liberate the negroes 
on them, and exerting himself, several years before 
our Eevolution, for an equality of rights to be granted 
to Protestants. "You will be glad to hear", he wrote 



42 

to Washington, in 1786, ''that I have great hopes to 
see the situation of Protestants in my country consider- 
ably improved, not as much, to be sure, as it should; 
but at the least the absurd and so cruel laws of Louis 
XIV will be greatly mended." When our Revolution 
came he was of the first to declare for equality. 

An enemy of the English, he was, so to say, a model 
enemy. Before sailing for America on his ship La 
Victoire, he had paid a visit to his uncle the Marquis 
de Noailles, then French Ambassador to the Court of 
St. James; everybody welcomed him and he was of- 
fered every facility to visit the ports and arsenals and 
see the ships that were building. He refused, rightly 
thinking it would be to take an undue advantage. No 
one knew of his set purpose to go to America, but he 
knew and that was enough. 

After Yorktown, he vied with the officers of Ro- 
chambeau's army in his courtesy towards Cornwallis, 
the same who once had thought himself so sure of cap- 
turing ' ' the boy ". "I pity Lord Cornwallis ' ', he wrote 
to his "dear heart" after the capitulation, "I have the 
highest opinion of him, and he is so good as to show me 
some esteem." 

Like Rochambeau's house in Paris, Lafayette's 
soon became a place of meeting for both Americans 
and English, and thus a friendly intercourse was be- 
ginning between representatives of the three nations 
which had met in arms at Yorktown. "Since the war 
is over and we have won it", he wrote to Washington 
in 1786, "I have, I confess, an extreme pleasure in 
meeting English people * * * Either as a French- 
man, or a soldier, or an American, or a mere individual, 
I find myself without embarrassment in the midst of 
that proud nation." And he tells of a dinner he had 
just given to which Mr. Pitt was present, "supported 
by five Englishmen ; and there was, too, a dozen rebels 
(that is Americans) including ladies * * * Mr. Pitt 
has left me delighted with his wit, his modesty, his 
nobility, and a character as interesting as the part to 



43 

which his position destines him." The way, how- 
ever, in which he played later that part, unavoidably 
modified Lafayette's dispositions. 

England repaid him handsomely;, among the many 
poems inspired by Lafayette's career, none surpasses 
the famous sonnet of Coleridge written when the de- 
fender of liberty was for five long years the prisoner 
of the Austrian enemy at Olmutz: 

Thou, Fayette, who didst wake with startling voice 
Life's better Sun from that long wintry night. 
Thus in thy Country's triumphs shalt rejoice 
And mock with raptures high the dungeon's night: 
For lo! the morning struggles into day, 
And Slavery's spectres shriek and vanish from the 
ray. 

Adverting to Lafayette's part in the French revo- 
lution it is pleasant to remember that all the best re- 
forms, those destined to survive, were advocated by 
him who had ever present to his mind the American 
example ; that when he was elected by the acclamation 
of the multitude, on the day after the Bastille, Com- 
mander in chief of the National Guard, as he was not 
present at the Hotel de Ville, it was to the marble bust 
of him, given to Paris by the State of Virginia, that 
Moreau de Saint-Mery pointed in order to have him 
elected by the crowd; and that the most daring and 
romantic attempt to free him from his prison was 
due to those two bold Americans, Bollman and Huger, 

Well may the shades of Phocion and Themistocles 
rest assured that a change has occurred since their 
days in the behavior of republics. Once more in the 
history of mankind war is rending the soil, rending 
the waters and the air. France and other nations 
ready for the works of peace, insufficiently ready (but 
that has been mended) for the works of war, are suf- 
fering unprecedented calamities. No tokens of friend- 
ship, of sympathy, of good will, have touched France 



44 

more deeply than those coming from this republic, 
who persists in remembering Lafayette and his com- 
panions. Under very many forms, American citizens 
have shown what they feel for the old Ally; their ap- 
proval, eloquently worded, has been for us a comfort. 
They understood that what is at stake is that same 
question of indei)endence for nations, of freedom for 
citizens, for which our common ancestors had fought 
the same fight ; they took pride in seeing that to make 
a good stand, to arrest the invader, to act unanimously 
with a single purpose, men needed no autocratic or- 
ganization holding them together ; the love of country, 
the attachment to sound principles, is between them the 
strongest of ties. People there be who fancy that a 
democracy is good enough for peace times; but you 
have shown that it can be equal to any task, in times 
of stress as in periods of prosperity. You proved it 
anew in the days of Lincoln, and we are trying to 
prove it again to-day: we a democracy like yours, a 
democracy that can defend its hearths and it prin- 
ciples to the utmost, but a democracy that is humane 
and is not vitiated by any militaristic spirit. A char- 
acteristic fact it is that we have never celebrated up 
to now, the anniversary of any of our victories, each 
victory being another people's defeat. 

You understood too that the France to whom your 
approval went, was not a new being, fallen so to speak 
from heaven, and which might possibly vanish as 
quickly as it came. No, the fighting, the bleeding 
France of to-day, is the France of all times, that of 
yesterday and that of to-morrow, that of Joan of Arc, 
of Bayard, Turenne, Hoche, Lafayette: the same as 
that of Joffre. Some have wondered that the French 
pretty well known for their dash, could in this war 
also show endurance : but this was to forget that 
France fought a hundred years' war, and won it. 

No such mistakes in that library of books written, 
just as it pleased them, by free Americans ; many of 
tliese works masterpieces of thought, of sentiment, of 



45 

language, and which are, each of them, as a leaf of 
laurel on the brow of old France, of ever young 
France. 

Never, in my country, will the American volunteers 
of the Great War be forgotten; some, according to 
their power, offering their pen, or their money, or 
their help to our wounded, or their life. There is not 
one form of suffering, among the innumerable kinds of 
calamities caused by a merciless enemy, that some 
American work has not tried to assuage. In the hospi- 
tals, in the schools for the maimed and blind, in the 
ruins of formerly prosperous villages, on the battle- 
fields, in the trenches, nay in the air, with your plucky 
aviators, the American name is blessed : in the trenches 
— where those kits named after the hero of to-day, the 
Lafayette Kits, have brought comfort to so many sol- 
diers, in remembrance of what Lafayette himself had 
done in his time. 

You are indeed a nation that remembers. When 
Lafayette revisited West Point in 1825, one of the 
orators alluded to his having provided shoes for the 
army at Valley Forge and proposed this toast: "To 
the noble Frenchman who placed the Army of the 
Revolution on a new and better footing." More than 
one of our soldiers is, owing to you, on a better foot- 
ing. 

Serving in the Ambulances, serving in the Legion, 
serving in the air, serving Liberty, obeying the same 
impulse as that which brought Lafayette to these 
shores, many young Americans leaving family and 
home, have offered to France their lives. Those lives 
many have lost and never, even in antique times, was 
there shown such abnegation and generosity, such 
firmness of character; men like that Victor Chapman 
who died to rescue his American and French co-avi- 
ators nearly overcome by a more numerous enemy, and 
whose father, so justly admired for his gifts of mind 
and heart, decided that his son's remains should lie 
buried where he had fallen: "Let him rest with his 



46 

comrades " ; or that Richard Hall, killed by a shell while 
on the search for our wounded, and whose mother 
hesitated to accept a permit to visit his flower- wreathed 
tomb at the front "because French mothers are not 
allowed to do so " ; or that Harvard graduate, the poet 
of the Legion, Alan Seeger, who felt that his hour 
could not be far remote and who, in expectation of it, 
had written from the blood-soaked battlefield where 
he had fought for liberty : ' ' The Frenchman who goes 
up is possessed with a passion beside which any of the 
other forms of experience that are reckoned to make 
life worth while seem pale in comparison * * * It is 
a privilege to march at his side — so much so that no- 
thing that the world could give could make me wish 
myself anywhere else than where I am." 

Addressing my country, on behalf of those dead 
American volunteers whose number he was so soon 
to increase, he had also written: 

Nay, rather, France, to you they rendered thanks 
(Seeing they came for honor, not for gain), 

Who, opening to them your glorious ranks. 
Gave them that grand occasion to excel. 

That chance to live the life most free from stain, 
And that rare privilege of dying well. 

An American Plutarch of the future will one day 
collect together such sayings, inspired by the great 
soul of the American nation. And perhaps, casting a 
glance backwards toward the time of that other great 
crisis in the history of human Liberty, the War of the 
American Revolution, he will recall the words of the 
French Knight whose birthday we are commemorat- 
ing together: "When I heard of American independ- 
ence my heart enlisted." 



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